George Lang (Ohio politician)

In 2017, state representative Margaret Conditt unexpectedly announced she was resigning in the middle of her fourth term to spend more time with family, leaving Ohio House Republicans with the task of appointing her replacement.[5] Seven individuals applied for the appointment, including Lang.

Lang was ultimately chosen for the seat and was seated in the House on September 13, 2017.[6] He was reelected in 2018. In the state legislature, Lang served on the following committees: Community and Family Advancement, Criminal Justice, Finance, and Insurance.[7]

After sponsoring a bill in 2018 that passed in the Ohio House but failed in the Senate, in May 2019, he was the co-sponsor of a bill that would ban the ability to tax establishments that don't observe bans on the use of plastic bags, with Lang claiming the bag bans were pushing residents to leave Ohio. It passed the Ohio House of Representatives in December 2019.[8] The bill, House Bill 242, was a temporary one-year ban on the bag bans, or banning of "auxiliary containers." It was signed by Governor Mike DeWine. In June 2021, the Ohio Senate proposed making the ban on bans permanent, with Lang argued it was "pro-business" legislation and that disposable bags were good to combat coronavirus transmission. The proposal was supported by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, the Ohio Manufacturers Association, and the Ohio Chemistry Technology Council.[9]

During the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, Lang avoided masks and publicly announced he was opposed to the COVID-19 vaccine.[9] In April 2020, he was promoting the Ohio Emergency PPE Makers’ Exchange, which was created to connect manufacturers in Ohio with personal protective equipment.[10]

In April 2020, he won over Candice Keller and Lee Wong in a primary for Republicans over Ohio's 4th Senate district, with predictions he would face Democrat Kathy Wyenandt in November 2020, who he had defeated in 2018.[1] Between July 1, 2019 and June 11, 2020, he spent $450,000 on his campaign, "nearly three times as much as his two opponents combined" for the GOP nomination.[11] As of November 3, 2020, he was leading Wyenandt for the 4th Ohio Senate District seat, with 61.2 percent of the vote while Wyenandt had 38.8.[12]

By January 2021, he was representing Ohio's 4th Senate District. By January 28, 2021, he had said that Larry Householder had opposed his plan to make "Ohio the most business-friendly state in the country," with Lang noting that Householder felt that "you can't put business first (which is) just a fundamental disagreement in philosophy."[13] At the time, Lang owned five businesses.[13] In February 2021 was appointed to the Business First Caucus for the 134th General Assembly as a co-chair.[14]

Lang promotes himself as a staunch fiscal conservative.[1] In June 2021, he stated as Ohio Senator of West Chester that in the Finance Committee his focus would be on budget discussions, but that he "“would review any future legislation through the lens of protecting the 2nd Amendment rights," speaking out in favor of harsher punishments for crime but lessening gun control laws, so as not to make it "tougher on the good guys."[15]

During the 134th General Assembly, Lang was assigned to the following Ohio Senate committees:[16]

• (Vice Chair of) Small Business and Economic Opportunity Committee
• Finance Committee
• Government Oversight and Reform Committee
• Insurance Committee
• General Government Budget Committee